Chinese Tech Stocks Fell Due to Didi’s Announcement

Stocks in Asia-Pacific were mixed on December 3, following days of turbulent trading this week as investors continue to monitor the situation regarding the omicron variant of the coronavirus. 

Chinese tech stocks in Hong Kong fell after Didi announced on December 3 that it plans to delist from the NYSE. The company will begin taking steps to delist from the New York Stock Exchange in less than six months after its debut in the U.S. Didi also plans to pursue a listing in Hong Kong.

In Hong Kong, shares of Tencent dropped 2.32% while Alibaba fell 2.61% and Meituan declined 2.66%. The Hang Seng Tech index fell 1.53% to 5,925.52.

The Hang Seng Index dropped 0.1% to end its trading day at 23,766.69.

On the contrary, mainland Chinese stocks rose on December 3. The Shanghai composite gained 0.94% to 3,607.43. The Shenzhen component added 0.857% to 14,892.05.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 1% to 28,029.57. The Topix index added 1.63% to end its trading day at 1,957.86. Shares of SoftBank Group fell 0.71%. It holds a sizable stake in Didi.

South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.78% to 2,968.33.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.22% on the day to 7,241.20. 

U.S. stocks on December 2

U.S. stocks rebounded on December 2, following an omicron-driven sell-off in the previous session. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 617.75 points to 34,639.79, helped by a 7.5% uptick in Boeing’s stock. The S&P 500 gained 1.4% to 4,577.10 on December 2. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.8% to close at 15,381.32.  Besides, the small-cap benchmark Russell 2000, advanced 2.7%. 

Airline, casino, as well as energy stocks led the gainers on December 2. Delta Air Lines gained about 9.3%, Hilton Worldwide added 7.4% and MGM Resorts advanced nearly 7.7%.